Review: 30602 First Order Stormtrooper
Posted by CapnRex101,
The annual May the Fourth polybag is something which I always look forward to as past years have provided some splendid minifigures. 30602 First Order Stormtrooper, on the other hand, is disappointing and fans have not been shy about saying so since it was revealed.
I think this frustration is justified as there are plenty of other characters which would make delightful additions to the range of Star Wars minifigures and this Stormtrooper is certainly not among them. Nevertheless, I am always glad to receive a free polybag and to get a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens minifigure, even if the updates are minimal.
Minifigure
I think LEGO did an excellent job with the standard First Order Stormtrooper minifigure but this variant is almost identical to the Heavy Assault Trooper seen in 75132 First Order Battle Pack and is therefore rather dull. The only changes to the printing are the addition of an extra ammunition pack on the front of his chest and the slight lowering of the white pouches underneath. These alterations do nothing to improve or detract from the original figure but it is good to get something slightly different.
Beneath his helmet is a Clone Trooper face and the minifigure is armed with a standard blaster. A survival backpack is also included and this is attached using a neck bracket, so lengthens the neck of the figure. The printed tile on the back is the same as that which appears in 75100 First Order Snowspeeder but I have no issue with that as the same backpack is worn by Snowtroopers and by some Stormtroopers in the film.
Unfortunately the backpack and the ammunition pouch do not correspond with a single character from the movie, instead borrowing features from two, the trooper who calls in an airstrike on Jakku and a Stormtrooper Commander who appears in a deleted scene set beneath Maz Kanata's castle.
Overall
This is not a bad minifigure but it is far less interesting than earlier polybags released over the May the Fourth weekend and offers very little incentive to make a purchase in my opinion. I would not recommend going out of your way to get it unless you are aiming to complete your LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection.
However, it is always nice to get something free so this is a welcome bonus if you were already intending to make a Star Wars purchase in the next few days. It is just a shame that the exclusive minifigure was not based on a more desirable character.
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46 comments on this article
It's a cool Minifigure... But in a $12 battle pack I can get nearly the exact same thing plus three other figures...
Wow, LEGO really ruined their May the Fourth stuff this year, with a horrible UCS release and this... at least Escape the Space Slug is pretty cool.
Great review!
There were so many interesting figures to pick from, and they chose this. I hope they are ready for low sales. Between this and Assault on Hoth, Lego seems to be disappointing people these past few weeks.
It's a pass for me, quite a generic figure, the worst of the May the 4th promo minifigures so far (or maybe only the second worst after Han Solo Hoth edition).
This minifigure doesn't justify to buy SW sets from LEGO LEGO.com, since I can get sets elswhere significantly cheaper. Even the 10% off doesn't help
I don't think it's entirely surprising that LEGO went with this choice... I mean, I imagine they want to promote The Force Awakens while it's still fresh in people's minds, and yet they've already covered a lot of the most iconic characters that wouldn't require new molds (or are scheduled to to in the sets coming out later this year). So another variety of First Order Stormtrooper might be the best they could come up with that was still within the budget for a promo like this.
That's not to say that people's disappointment isn't valid, just that I sort of get some of the constraints LEGO might've been working with when trying to choose this year's May the 4th minifigure.
If anybody else has any ideas of The Force Awakens characters who might've made a better choice, feel free to chime in! There might be some recognizable and potentially viable characters that I'm not thinking of.
^ Constable Zuvio. They could have used the hat to come with Fifth Brother and the Ninjago half-mask.
@Aanchir - Bala-Tik, Lieutenant Mitaka, Kor Sella, Lieutenant Connix, Admiral Statura or a young version of Rey spring to mind. None of those would require new elements.
I have 3 of these polybags now! They aren't so bad for me...
@Aanchir: They are running out of new characters to make, but one of the X-wing pilots wouldn't go amiss. Neither would a chrome Phasma! That would be good, but it'll probably never happen.
Thanks for the review!
Guavian Death Gang member, or Luke Skywalker. Those were at the top of my May 4th wish list.
In the Belgian Lego store ( Wijnegem) I was given the choice between this F.O. stormtrooper, or the 5004406 F.O. general... since I also had the F.O. battlepack with my purchase, the choice was easy.. :-)
It was free. I'm happy. Plus I got a Mr Freeze for free too in the same purchase. Oh, and a Space Slug and two posters. A good morning's shopping.
TR-8R specifically with shield and baton would've sold so many due to his cult status.
He also wouldn't have been too different but still.
A version of the older Luke Skywalker would have been good.
Come on! You can never have enough Storm troopers!! :-) And at least you can get something. We cannot even order from Lego-shop in Greece because they dont send us stuff :-(
You should never look a gift horse in the mouth, they say :)
That's true, and as Corellian told, in Belgium we had the choice between two TFA minifigs and they were still handing out some Mr. Freeze figures in addition... you won't hear me complain, :-)
I agree with your assessment. The figure is not great in comparison with TC-14 etc. but it is free. A Luke Skywalker or Bala-Tik minifigure would have been excellent.
Minister Tua from the SW Rebels show would have been welcomed, or the FO General. But free is free in the end and the price sure has gone down since Darth Revan (he was $75 while this is $50).
I'm gonna save my money this May 4th.
This years May the Fourth isn't too exciting. I did end up getting the Shuttle Tyderium as it was a set I've been wanting for some time, and it is on sale for a pretty good price. I had a little VIP credit too which cleared out the tax and gave a little bit more of a discount so it worked out for me. I would not have participated in the sale for the free incentives if it weren't for the fact they had an item on sale that I wanted. Overall, there aren't a lot of SW sets currently available that really interest me anyways.
I would rather they do old Luke or Simon Pegg's character. But this isn't a bad figure per se, just a poor choice.
@Aanchir; I think old Luke would have been an obvious choice. Highly desired character; no new molds, just new prints. Give him his green lightsaber as an accessory and an option between hood and hair pieces and fans would have gone crazy for it.
What happened to the 5004406 First Order General polybag? Was that released as a different promotion?
At the very least they could've included a Megablaster!
Compare this to Revan from 2014.
Or, better yet, they could've replaced the one similar to this in the Battle Pack with a normal Stormtrooper, which everyone wanted, then this one would be more unique...
Blech...another disappointing polybag
The ammo packs on his belt are smaller than the one on the battle pack stormtrooper. The ammo clips almost touched the little slits on the left side of the chest while these are lower.
Worst Lego May the 4th ever.
Noooooo, the 5004406 polybag is more more more interesting than 30602!!!! How can I get one of this?? Online there isn't! Only in Belgian shop?!?
By deephorse in United Kingdom, 30 Apr 2016 13:00
It was free. I'm happy. Plus I got a Mr Freeze for free too in the same purchase. Oh, and a Space Slug and two posters. A good morning's shopping.
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How did you find the Space Slug limited and free set?!? I understood that it's available only for the people that received an advice directly from the LEGO Group... There are only 3.500 pieces available in all world, isn't it?
You know what would've spiced this up a lot? It should've had a female head print, as there are now female Stormtroopers. Lego hasn't made a female Stormtrooper yet, so it would've been a no-brainer.
@Shadowclaimer TR-8R already comes in the Battle on Takodana set. I will admit this is the weakest May 4th minifigure we've seen to date. The saving grace is the low threshold of $50. I got one anyway since I was already getting Assault on Hoth today for double points.
^^ Well, Phasma... ;-)
Combine this with the complete lack of sales here in Australia, and they might as well not even acknowledge May 4th honestly. Its no different to any other day. Wait, that's not quite true, because on most days, at least one set is on sale.
I'm so unreasonably angry at Lego not having a sale and not having any noteworthy promotional product available, haha
Luke. Skywalker. It's very unlikely that we'll ever get a figure of him from TFA - the May the 4th promotion would have been a great way to do it. Massively disappointed in the figure, but it is "different", so I'll happily take it for free.
How was the "Escape the Space Slug" set distributed? Looking on eBay the set is now going for $200+ which is insane!
@PicnicBasketSam simon pegg's character unkar plutt is released in june in the set encounter on jakku
I don't have any of the new Star Wars stuff so I was looking forward to this. I ordered the Battle of Takodana and a Resistance Trooper pack so now I should have a good amount of troops for a battle scene.
How I wish the country where I live had places participating in this promotion. As it is I will likely have to pay to get this mini figure and complete my FO Stormtrooper line up. ><
I'm just surprised LEGO used a Heavy Artillery Stormtrooper at the same time it was in a cheap Battle Pack. One or the other could've been a normal Stormtrooper and people would've been happy. If the BP had two 'normal' ones, the Heavy Artillery exclusive would be much more fun -- or, if it was another normal one, troop builders would've been happy.
Quite a disappointing fig. Why no ghost Obi-wan!!!
What xboxtravis7992 said.
For FN-2187, I might have been tempted to shell out £50. For this, nope.
I would have liked to see Captain Ithano. He would have made a great one, because as far as I know, TC-14 isn't to popular, and they still made him.Luke also would have made a good one. Another perfect one would be an exclusive hoth leia, as it would go with assault on hoth, like last years admiral yularen and the tie fighter. Just my personal opinion.
I agree. A Captain Ithano minifig would've been great, but it will probably be included in a set that has the interior of Maz's castle. He also appears in the LEGO Star Wars:The Force Awakens as a playable character.
Well nice job lego but I like it
I wanted Luke from EP7